Swindon Half Marathon 2006
On Sunday 15th October 2006 I competed in the Swindon Half Marathon. This was my first race since returning from my holiday.
Regular visitors to this site will know that last year, Swindon was the first half marathon I have competed in. I had trained specifically for the event, having PT sessions with Anthony Davis, and was very happy with my time of 2 hours 4 minutes.
Circumstances were very different this year. I had just returned from holiday and was struggling to get back into training - on a physical and mental level. Physically I have found training hard - obviously I put a few pounds back on during my break - no big deal, I felt, the weight will soon come off. And it takes time for the body to readjust to regular training after a long break.
Mentally I haven't felt right either. It has been hard to come down off cloud nine that I was on for so long, and I've had a feeling that nothing will ever match the sense of pride and achievement that I felt after completing my first marathon. My boss at work, David Power, has been effusive in his praise - he is clearly very proud to have a marathon runner working for him, and made a point of publicly congratulating me. I will also appear in the next edition of our company magazine with the title "Marathon runner" so the whole company will know. I never expected this to boost my career prospects, but there you go.
Anyway, back to the race. I trained up until the Thursday beforehand and on that day finally did a good run of 1 hour 40 minutes. That was the first session that felt really good, and it gave me some confidence.
I had complete rest on the Friday and Saturday, and managed to dig out my coursework from the "Writer's Bureau" and crack on with it a bit - told you I was serious about getting published.
I had a nice surprise on Saturday morning when Graeme paid an impromptu visit - I hadn't seen him since his wedding in May so it was really good to catch up. He had entered the race as well (we both ran last year) but told me he was pulling out due to a knee injury.
In the afternoon I went to the cinema (it's kind of the law now, the day before a race) and saw the excellent "The Departed". I've always had a penchant for gangster flicks, and this was right up there with some of the best in the genre.
I had my bog-standard pasta bolognaise for supper and slept really well. It helped knowing I didn't have far to travel the next day, or needed to get up early.
I arrived at the race in good time (so close to home I could have walked there) and just as I had parked up received a text from Anthony telling me he wouldn't be running, for reasons I'm not at liberty to disclose. I was kind of expecting it, but it was still a disappointment. It would have been good to see him.
There were other friendly faces there however, and I met up with Andy Benson (my old mucker from the gym) and Tamsin Simmonds for a chat before lining up on the start line. Tamsin is one of the Swindon Harriers' best female runners, and is competing in her first marathon next weekend - which goes to show that I did mine at a very early stage in my running career.
The event seemed a lot better organised this year - there was a proper pen for the runners, with seedings, and there was also a baggage tent and free massages.
I managed to find a spot to loosen up before the start and found myself chatting to Laura and Esme, two girls from the gym, on the start line. I tend to find that sort of thing calms my nerves a bit.
And then we were off! I tried to take it nice and steady at first, but as soon as we were out in the countryside I started to struggle. My legs were fine, but my breathing was terrible - I was really puffing and panting going up the hills, probably a result of putting a few pounds back on during my hols.
There was also an unexpected challenge in that one of the freelance instructors from the gym was in the race as well, and for the first half was beating me. I managed to catch him up, and eventually got past him. I had to work hard to hold on to the lead however, but I really didn't want him to beat me. Looking back that probably helped me, as it gave me an incentive to run at a fair pace instead of plodding round.
After 6 or 7 miles I felt a bit better and my breathing settled down a bit. I did find the last few miles quite tough, which to me is a sign that I had worked hard for the first 10 miles.
In the end my chip time was 1:52:14, which is only a minute off my PB, so I think I can be pleased with that all things considered. I picked up my medal, t-shirt and goodie bag and caught up with a few friends. Everyone seemed to have had a good day, but I did feel sorry for Andy who had worked very hard for this event, and was hoping to get a time of less than 1 hour 40 minutes. It didn't happen for him as he had been bitten by a dog the week before the race and was struggling with the injury. Unfortunately these things seem to happen at the wrong time, but he was suitably philosophical about it.
Before I left I decided to avail myself of the free massage service, which I think helped to get rid of some lactic acid in my legs. I then came home, found out about another woeful performance by the England one-day side and so spent the rest of the day watching films on Sky and some of my DVDs instead. Needless to say the fridge was replete with some of my favourite beer and I enjoyed a few tasty beverages that afternoon. I think I had done enough in the morning to earn it.
Let's hope that the Swindon half marathon continues to be a highly enjoyable day for many years to come.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, October 2006
Regular visitors to this site will know that last year, Swindon was the first half marathon I have competed in. I had trained specifically for the event, having PT sessions with Anthony Davis, and was very happy with my time of 2 hours 4 minutes.
Circumstances were very different this year. I had just returned from holiday and was struggling to get back into training - on a physical and mental level. Physically I have found training hard - obviously I put a few pounds back on during my break - no big deal, I felt, the weight will soon come off. And it takes time for the body to readjust to regular training after a long break.
Mentally I haven't felt right either. It has been hard to come down off cloud nine that I was on for so long, and I've had a feeling that nothing will ever match the sense of pride and achievement that I felt after completing my first marathon. My boss at work, David Power, has been effusive in his praise - he is clearly very proud to have a marathon runner working for him, and made a point of publicly congratulating me. I will also appear in the next edition of our company magazine with the title "Marathon runner" so the whole company will know. I never expected this to boost my career prospects, but there you go.
Anyway, back to the race. I trained up until the Thursday beforehand and on that day finally did a good run of 1 hour 40 minutes. That was the first session that felt really good, and it gave me some confidence.
I had complete rest on the Friday and Saturday, and managed to dig out my coursework from the "Writer's Bureau" and crack on with it a bit - told you I was serious about getting published.
I had a nice surprise on Saturday morning when Graeme paid an impromptu visit - I hadn't seen him since his wedding in May so it was really good to catch up. He had entered the race as well (we both ran last year) but told me he was pulling out due to a knee injury.
In the afternoon I went to the cinema (it's kind of the law now, the day before a race) and saw the excellent "The Departed". I've always had a penchant for gangster flicks, and this was right up there with some of the best in the genre.
I had my bog-standard pasta bolognaise for supper and slept really well. It helped knowing I didn't have far to travel the next day, or needed to get up early.
I arrived at the race in good time (so close to home I could have walked there) and just as I had parked up received a text from Anthony telling me he wouldn't be running, for reasons I'm not at liberty to disclose. I was kind of expecting it, but it was still a disappointment. It would have been good to see him.
There were other friendly faces there however, and I met up with Andy Benson (my old mucker from the gym) and Tamsin Simmonds for a chat before lining up on the start line. Tamsin is one of the Swindon Harriers' best female runners, and is competing in her first marathon next weekend - which goes to show that I did mine at a very early stage in my running career.
The event seemed a lot better organised this year - there was a proper pen for the runners, with seedings, and there was also a baggage tent and free massages.
I managed to find a spot to loosen up before the start and found myself chatting to Laura and Esme, two girls from the gym, on the start line. I tend to find that sort of thing calms my nerves a bit.
And then we were off! I tried to take it nice and steady at first, but as soon as we were out in the countryside I started to struggle. My legs were fine, but my breathing was terrible - I was really puffing and panting going up the hills, probably a result of putting a few pounds back on during my hols.
There was also an unexpected challenge in that one of the freelance instructors from the gym was in the race as well, and for the first half was beating me. I managed to catch him up, and eventually got past him. I had to work hard to hold on to the lead however, but I really didn't want him to beat me. Looking back that probably helped me, as it gave me an incentive to run at a fair pace instead of plodding round.
After 6 or 7 miles I felt a bit better and my breathing settled down a bit. I did find the last few miles quite tough, which to me is a sign that I had worked hard for the first 10 miles.
In the end my chip time was 1:52:14, which is only a minute off my PB, so I think I can be pleased with that all things considered. I picked up my medal, t-shirt and goodie bag and caught up with a few friends. Everyone seemed to have had a good day, but I did feel sorry for Andy who had worked very hard for this event, and was hoping to get a time of less than 1 hour 40 minutes. It didn't happen for him as he had been bitten by a dog the week before the race and was struggling with the injury. Unfortunately these things seem to happen at the wrong time, but he was suitably philosophical about it.
Before I left I decided to avail myself of the free massage service, which I think helped to get rid of some lactic acid in my legs. I then came home, found out about another woeful performance by the England one-day side and so spent the rest of the day watching films on Sky and some of my DVDs instead. Needless to say the fridge was replete with some of my favourite beer and I enjoyed a few tasty beverages that afternoon. I think I had done enough in the morning to earn it.
Let's hope that the Swindon half marathon continues to be a highly enjoyable day for many years to come.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, October 2006
posted by Jon | 9:38 pm
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